Means for operating overhead trolleys.



PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

A. E. BROWN.

MEANS FOR OPERATING OVERHEAD TROLLEYS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20. 1904.

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No. 767,862. PATENTED AUG. 16, 19704.

A. E. BROWN.

MEANS FOR OPERATING OVERHEAD TROLLEYS.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 20. 1904.

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M -75 55A ATTORNE-K No. 767,862. PA-TENTED AUG. 16, 1904. A. E. BROWN.

MEANS FOR OPERATING OVERHEAD TROLLEYS. APPLIUATION FILED APR. 20. 1904.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 16. 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

BROWN HOISTING MACHINERY COMPANY,

INCORPORATED COMPANY.

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, AN

MEANS. FOR OPERATING OVERHEAD TROLLEYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,862, dated August 16, 1904.

Application filed April 20, 1904:-

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER EPHRAIM BROWN, mechanical. engineer, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, Ohio,

have invented a new and useful Means for Operating Overhead Trolleys, as to which I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, due reference being had and intended to the several drawings accompany- IO ing this specification and which I mean shall be considered as a part of the same.

My inventionrelates to the special class of overhead trolleys used for hoisting and conveying purposes and which are impelled either singly or in trains by an electricallydriven locomotive or locohoist that is suspended from and travels upon the same track as the trolleys themselves and carries the machinery for hoisting and lowering the loads ina cage or housing pivotally dependent from the truck portion of the locohoist.

In an apparatus of the'above description the bucket or load to be lifted and traversed is hung from a sheave having laterally-projecting journal or axle hubs designed to be brought by the uplift of the hoisting-rope within the operative range of suspension or sustaining hooks provided in the trolleys. The hoist-rope itself is of course led from the 3 hoisting-drum in the cage or housing of the locohoist to and over a forward sheave in the nearest trolley, downwardly under the sheave in the hoist-block,and upwardly and over a second sheave in said trolley to be similarly reeved about the sheaves and hoist-block of the next trolley when more than one trolley is used, and so on through the series or train of trolleys to the last member of the same. It is evident, however, that when a trolley or 4 trolleys are thus connected with and operated by a locohoist the coupling, both between one trolley and another and between the train and locohoist itself, must be rigid and stable in order to provide the necessary hoisting resistance when a load is to be raised and, further, that when horizontal curves are to be encountered in the tram or track way special provision must be made to maintain at all times the Serial No. 203,994. (No model.)

same relation between the hoist-rope and each pair of sheaves with which it is concerned 5 that exists when the train occupies a straight line of tram or track way.

It is the purpose and object of my present invention to provide a mechanical means or arrangement whereby a hoisting trolley or trolleys on an overhead tramway, either straight or curved, may be driven and operated from and by an electric locohoist thereon and without deranging the normal relations between either said hoist-rope and the sheaves it fits or between the trolleys themselves and their locohoist. The means and arrangement (above referred to) whereby I accomplish this purpose and object will be ascertained from the description I shall now 5 proceed to give, having reference in so doing to said drawings, wherein similar parts are indicated by similar letters.

In said drawings, Figure .1 is a side elevation of an overhead hoisting-trolley having 7 details covered by my said invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of the trolley shown in Fig. l with certain details in that figure in section. Fig. 3 is a down sectional view in the line between the arrows in Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is an enlarged view of a strut and sheave in my invention at their point of connection with a trolley, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a downward view of the parts shown in Fig. 4 through the lines 2? 3/ thereof. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through the line 1; .2 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view to the right through the line 0; of Fig. 4. Fig. Sis a side elevation of an overhead track on a straight-section thereof, with a locohoist 5 and twohoisting-trolleys mounted thereon in a train; and Fig. 9 is a sectional plan view of an apparatus similar to that shown in Fig. 8 going around a curve.

I is an overhead tramway or track made up 9 of I-beams sequentially suspended in any suitable manner between any desired terminal points. Such track may be straight or curved, as indicated in the line 2' in Fig. 9. The

flanges a a (see Fig. 2) of the I-beam I constitute the track or railway proper from and upon which, by means of motor-driven wheels B B on the flange d and corresponding wheels on the opposite flange (0, a locohoist is hung and travels. Said locohoist is provided with an operating cage or house 0, which is pivotally united to and below the truck portion of the same at the points 1) j) thereof and contains the hoisting-drum, motors, controllers, 'rheostats, and other appliances. apparatus. and connections required for the hoisting and conveying operations.

T T T are struts made up, as shown in section in Fig. 2, of two channel-bars 0 0, placed back to back and firmly secured in that relation in the manner to be now shown. Abutting against the ends of the channels 0 0 and joined to their webs by the reinforcing plates or \velts W W are downwardly-extending side plates B B, between and through which the hoist-rope sheaves S S are suitably journaled at such point as will bring or lead the hoist-rope vertically beneath the pins or pivots J J, that connect the struts T T T to their respective trolleys. The upper portion of said side plates B B extend backwardly from and in alinement with the channels 0 0, which they join and are there fastened to the flanges of a channel-piece c, interposed between the same near their upper edge, and to a casting-piece K beneath a.

A preferable detail of the hinge-joint connection to which the pins or pivots J J pertainis shown in section in Fig. 7 where K is a hollow block-shaped casting of suitable dimensions to receive and permit to oscillate laterally therein the upper portions of the side plates B, just referred to, constituting the ends of the struts T T T, &c. Said casting is provided at its sides with trunnions t 25, which are journaled in each casein and through the overlapping side plates A A of the trolleys. A casting K is in this manner mounted between said side plates at the front and rear of each trolley. Holes are provided in the top and bottom of said castings to receive the pins J J and corresponding holes are-likewise provided in the channel-piece a and casting K. These latter holes are elongated laterally, as shown at 1 1 in Fig. 7, to allow for side oscillations of the strut T, &c. Said holes for the reception of the pins J are located at such points in the end'of said struts that a vertical line through the pins J when in place therein will pass through the score of the sheaves S below the same and be substantially tangential thereto.

R is the hoistrope, and 0' a guard bolt therefor.

H H are the hoist-blocks, whose sheaves shouldhave a diameter approximately equal to the distance between the scores of the opposite trolley-sheaves above the same.

D is the hoisting-drum within the cage 0. At the front end of said cage is located a sheave S in such position that a vertical line from the pivotal point p of the cage and truck will be substantially tangentlal to its score.

The struts T T T, &c. carrying at each extremity the said sheaves S, are coupled between the several trolleys composing the train by inserting the ends within the box or casting K in each case and inserting the pins J in the holes provided in the respective parts for the purpose. The strut T is in the same manner connected at one end to the first trolley of the series. At its other end it is similarly pivoted to the frame or cage 0 at the pivot-point p at a suitable point on said strut to bring or lead the hoist-rope over the sheave S in such end downward to the score of the sheave S in a vertical line with said pivot-point It will thus be seen thatwhen a train of hoisting-trolleys are coupled one to another and to a locohoist in the manner described not only will such coupling take up the compression between the several members due to the opera tion of hoisting from a given point beneath the train, but also, which is perhaps the chief novelty and utility of the invention, the train will thereby be enabled to traverse a longitudinal curve with the same facility as when on a straight track. Under such conditions the stretch of hoist-line between one trolley and another will always be free to follow the chord of the arc of the track without undue strain upon the score of its sustaining-sheaves or escaping therefrom, this for the reason that said sheaves are fixed with respect to said struts, which are themselves such chords, and in the same vertical plane therewith, but are movably related to said trolleys about or around the point where the rope is lead off and downward from said sheaves to the hoist-block below. Horizontal stretches of rope are accordingly always in line with said chords, and the vertical stretches are always in line with the swivel or pivotal point of the trolley. In consequence no derangement of the relations of rope and sheaves is possible during the turning of the trolley about such point as it passes a curve.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention to the specific form of construction I have herein used for its explanation. Many variations of this form are possible without departing from the essential ideas involved and which I wish to cover and secure by Letters Patent.

What I claim as new and patentable is- 1. A means for coupling an overhead locohoist with one or more hoisting-trolleys, consisting of struts swivelly connected at their respective ends with the members to be coupled and thereprovided with sheaves for the hoisting-rope below said struts whose scores are in the same vertical plane as said struts, and are tangentially related with the axis of said swivel connection in an upright line, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with an overhead locohoist and one or more hoisting-trolleys, to be operated thereby, of couplingstruts between the same, said struts being swivelly connected with the parts to be coupled, and carrying, beneath said points of connection, suitable hoisting-rope sheaves, which said sheaves are in the same vertical plane with said struts, and have the circumferential points on each from which the hoisting-rope leads downwardly to the hoistblock, directly below said point of swivel connection, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination with an overhead locohoist and one ormorehoisting-trolleys to be operated thereby, of coupling-struts between the same, said struts being swivelly connected with the parts to be coupled and carrying beneath said points of connection, suitable hoisting-rope sheaves, which said sheaves are in the same vertical plane with said struts and have the circumferential points thereon from which the hoisting-rope takes on and off, respectively, when raising or lowering the load, in a substantially vertical line beneath the point where said struts are, in each case, swivelly connected, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination with an overhead locohoist and one or more hoisting-trolleys, to be operated thereby, of coupling-struts between the same, swivelly connected with the parts to be coupled, and carrying, beneath said points of connections, suitable hoisting sheaves, which said sheaves are arranged in the same vertical plane with the struts to which they respectively pertain, and with the circumferential points thereon, from which the hoisting-rope takes on or off, respectively, when raising or lowering the hoist-block between the same, in a substantially vertical line beneath the point where said struts are, in each case swivelly' connected, and, a hoist-rope, suitably connected with the source of power, which passes, in turn over said hoistingsheaves connected with the several trolleys of the series or train coupled by said struts, and through a hoist-block provided for the purpose, in each case, between the same, substantially as shown and described.

Cleveland, Ohio, March 8, 1904.

ALEXANDER EPHRAIM BROWN.

In presence of HOWARD A. CoUsE, F. G. TALLMAN. 

